Blair arrives in the Middle East

Updated 23.52 Tue Sep 04 2007

Keywords: tony blair, middle east

International envoy Tony Blair arrived in Jerusalem on Tuesday in his new role as Middle East envoy.

He is there to assess efforts between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to renew peace negotiations.

Mr Blair will remain in the region until September 14 to try to develop initial recommendations for peace mediators from four countries: the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.

Mr Blair has voiced hope that Abbas's break with Hamas after the Islamist group overran the Gaza Strip in June could provide an opportunity for Israeli-Palestinian rapprochement.

But Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas have differed on how to prepare the ground. The Israeli leader wants a wide-ranging "declaration of principles".

The Palestinian president wants a more explicit "framework agreement" addressing core issues of the future Palestinian state's borders, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

As a result of chronic unemployment, some in the West Bank are forced to scratch a living any way they can.